Nevada

I have started a new journey in my life, I have accepted a job teaching kindergarten in Dayton, Nevada.

My school badge and keys to the school. How official!!!!

So this past week Dad and I made the 2500 mile journey from Fairmont, West Virginia to Dayton, Nevada. It was a long three day trip driving a rental truck and pulling my car behind! Here are the views that greeted us as we entered Nevada.

It's rather barren here, but it definitely has it;s own beauty. I enjoy the mountains, however my car does not. I am currently staying at the Virginia City Inn that is owned buy the David and Linda Lindsey (they served a mission in the Fairmont Ward) while I search for a place of my own. The Lindseys have been incredible and I am very thankful for all that they are doing to help me out. Dad and I took a day to drive to Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately it was a Saturday and very busy so we just stopped at a scenic view area. It is a very beautiful lake and I plan on visiting again and hopefully next time I will be swimming there.

 

I have decided to like Nevada and I am really excited for all the possibilities that await me here. I'm not sure how long I will be staying in Nevada but while I'm here I am going to enjoy myself and seeing the wild horses.

 

Merry Christmas to Me

This past week I received an early Christmas present...I was asked to teach 4th grade for the rest of the year!!!!!!! It is still only a sub job, but is is an everyday sub job. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity. I'm hoping that this will be a foot in the door and improve my chances of getting a full-time job next year.

A Zilch Weekend

This past Saturday mom, dad, and I went to the Washington, D.C. Temple. I love being able to go to the temple and feel the spirit and do the work for those who have already passed on. The trip to the temple takes 4 hours and instead of coming home after we were done at the temple we spent the night with the Zilch family, who used to live here in Fairmont but moved to Virginia. Mary and I met out at BYU and we worked together on campus. I was very excited for the visit, to spend time with good friends, play with Ellie, and especially to meet 4 month old Malcolm.

I had planned on throwing a baby shower for Mary, but they moved away. Regardless of their moving I still made a quilt for Malcolm. I chose a soft monkey fabric for the back and then decided to tie in the colors on the front (red, yellow, blue, and brown for the binding). I am really happy with how the quilt turned out! So for dinner we went to Red Robin...Yum! Unfortunately the burger I got, the Chili Chili Cheeseburger, wasn't so Yum. Luckily, the cheeseburger was the only disappointment in a really great weekend.

Girls Camp

Last week I had the opportunity to attend girls camp as the assistant level leader for the second year girls. This experience was so much better then when I went with my old ward in Flint. This years camp theme was 'Stand in Holy Places and be not Moved' and then the 2nd year girls "holy place" was the Sacred Grove and they chose their color to be gold. It was rather difficult to find gold decorations for the cabin. The level leader and I decided to decorate the cabin with trees where the leaves were made out of green balloons and then hang gold stars from the ceiling, I personally think that it turned out rather cute. I decided to really get into the spirit of being a leader and made each girl a name tag and little treat handouts for each day. 

I also made a treat bag that had a Hug drink in it and some Hersey Kisses with a sign that said "We Love You! XOXOXOXO" There were 13 girls in 2nd year and luckily they all got along fairly well. They pushed 10 of the beds together to make a 'mega' bed and all slept together.

 We were suppose to go on a 5 mile hike but because of the weather (there were thunder storms) we only went on a 3 mile hike. We also did some tie-dying, played water games (the girls soaked me), had a dance party, participated in some fun crafts, and of course completed the required certifications. Here they have secret sisters at camp for the girls and the leaders. I brought a piece of candy for my secret sister and then a bigger gift for the last day. I did not realize how serious they take secret sister around here, the gifts that I got from my secret sister were so much better then what I had to give. So if I am asked back next year I will be better prepared and not be such a loser when it comes to being a secret sister. Another tradition that they have here is that on the last night they have sumo wrestling. They put mattresses on the floor, stuff their shirts with pillows, and wrestle. What a fun way to spend the last night a girls camp.

I am thankful that I had the opportunity to go to girls camp and to spend time with some great girls.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

There year has been extremely expensive for me, especially when it comes to my mouth. I had a tooth crack and I knew that it would need a crown put on it so off to the dentist I went. It cost me $84 to get an x-ray and have them tell me that I need a crown, well duh. So I went back and got a crown put on that cost $790. A month later I had a tooth ache that wouldn't go away, so off to the dentist I went again. It was another expensive visit in which I was told that I needed a root canal on a tooth that had had a crown put on it last summer in Michigan that I am still paying off, I was so annoyed and frustrated! So I got a $820 root canal from the specialist and then had to go back to the "regular" dentist to get a permanent filling that cost $105. Now all of this wouldn't be such a big deal if I had insurance, but I don't so I have to pay out of pocket for it all, and let me tell you that it really cuts into my summer savings. I am very grateful that I have been able to work so much this school year that I was able to pay for all of this and still have money to pay  my bills in the summer. So I have put thousands of dollars in my mouth this year that I will never get back. I have also had to pay $500 dollars to take 4 online classes to renew my teaching certificate and $200 to get my car fixed. I hope the rest of the year isn't as expensive as the first 5 months have been.

Speaking of my mouth, this weekend I made something delicious to put into my mouth...caramel corn. It was my first time making it (with mom's help of course) and it turned out great!

YUMMY!

Books, Books, and more Books!

Last Saturday I decided that I would once again organize my books since I had bought many since the last time they were organized, and I was getting annoyed not knowing where the books that I wanted to read were located. I'm a bit anal when it comes to my books...I like them to be in alphabetical order and also the series need to be in the correct order. So I took all my books off the floor and shelf and piled them onto my bed and other surfaces by author. Here is a picture of my bed after some books had already been put away.

It took me hours to get my books sorted and then I needed to decide where they were all going to go. There is no doubt that I need more bookshelves but I'm not sure I would be able to fit enough of them in my bedroom. Here are pictures of my books, pretty much lining my entire bedroom.

I love books and I am constantly reading them and buying them. I have not yet read all of the books that I own but I have read at least half of them. So these are my books and this doesn't even include the 600 children books that I have for the day when I have my own classroom and/or children.

Cookies Part 2

Here are some of the cookies that I decorated that Mom and Dad took to Michigan with them for Christmas. I had fun doing it but ran out of ideas on how to decorate them. Mom and I plan on making cookie bouquets for the Relief Society birthday party, so I am sure that there will be more cookie pictures to come.

And here is my ugly cookie that didn't make it to MI, but it tasted yummy.